The [food] supply of the institutions caring for children somehow improved in June. The kitchens could even serve 5,000 children. [. . .] Many children orphaned by both parents simultaneously were forced to live on the street. This phenomenon [. . .], though less direct than hunger, is becoming a more and more of a burning issue.
The data regarding the situation in the children’s shelter at Dzielna Street 39 turns out to be most characteristic once again. On 1 July there were 607 children in the shelter. There were 167 new admissions throughout June.
The age breakdown of the children living in the shelter on 1 June:
children up to the age of 2 — 78
children aged 2−7 — 268
children aged 7−15 — 261
The simply catastrophic increase in the number of deaths is the most dominant feature of the situation in the shelter. For in June, 155 children died—exactly twice as many as in May. July displays the same tendency with as many as 80 deaths in the first half of the month. 80 percent of deaths result from starvation-related exhaustion, from which most children arriving in the shelter suffer. And even though the food supply of the shelter improved slightly in June, it still lacks certain kinds of food, such as fat, rice, milk, etc., and that makes it impossible to significantly prevent death by starvation. The following figures show that in the current situation the centre cannot save children from starvation-related emaciation:
Of the 155 children who died in the shelter in June:
— 121 children had been there up to 4 weeks
— 26 children had been there up to 8 weeks
— 5 children had been there up to 12 weeks
— 3 children had been there for over 12 weeks
ARG I 608 (Ring. I/84 and I/223).
Ring. I/84
Description: original or duplicate, handwritten, Polish, 217x278 mm, minor damage and fragments missing, 4 sheets, 4 pages.
Ring. I/84
Description: duplicate, handwritten, Polish, 218x277 mm, minor damage and missing fragments, 2 sheets, 2 pages.
